1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure of invention relates to a lamp socket and a display device having the same. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a lamp socket having improved reliability and a display device having the lamp socket.
2. Background Description
In general, an image display device includes a panel assembly that displays an image thereon and a backlight assembly that supplies light to the panel assembly.
The backlight assembly includes lamps that emit light, inverters that supply high voltage electric power to the lamps and lamp sockets that electrically connect to corresponding lead terminals of the lamps to supply the electric power to the lamps. In general, a thin resilient contact member is used in the lamp socket to make resilient (spring like) electrical contact with the lead terminal of the lamp. The resilient contact member achieves its resiliency in part from its relatively thin construction.
When a lamp socket electrically connects to the lead terminal of a lamp unstably, a spark may occur at a contact point between the lead terminal of the lamp and the thin resilient contact member of the lamp socket since a size of a contact area between the lead terminal and the thin resilient contact member becomes smaller than what was designed for and it may occasionally disconnect into a small open circuit gap. When the size of the contact area between the lead terminal and the thin resilient contact member rapidly decreases or temporarily reverts into an open circuit gap, current transmitting from the thin resilient contact member to the lead terminal is often partially discharged as a spark.
When the lamp socket is exposed to repeated sparks for long periods of time, the lamp socket tends to become cumulatively deformed by heat generated from the sparks. The progressively increasing deformity may cause further loss of good contact and further sparks and may ultimately cause the lamp socket to become electrically disconnected more permanently from the lead terminal of the lamp, this leading to undesirable lamp outage.